Support Available for Individuals Affected by Recent Events in Japan; Vigil Planned

Posted Mar 21, 2011by Claire J. Elson

As many individuals in our University community are from Japan and have family members or friends who live there who may be affected by the recent earthquake, tsunami and safety issues at the nuclear power plants, the Office of Human Resources wants to communicate the following information to help our employees and students cope with this disaster and to support them as they attempt to respond:

Confidential Counseling Services: Confidential counseling services from Carebridge are available for benefits-eligible faculty and staff and graduate students. Counselors are available to provide group and individual assistance to employees. On our website, we posted information that Carebridge developed, including a list of relief organizations, additional resources and organizations where individuals can learn more about radiation emergencies.

Other University Resources: The University offers the following benefits and/or services to support benefits-eligible employees during times of need:

Backup Care Advantage Program to provide caregiving for children, spouses, partners and other loved ones; it developed an organizational response focused on helping children and families directly impacted, including translating Jim Greenman’s book, What Happened to My World? Helping Children Cope with Natural Disaster and Catastrophe, into Japanese;

A Web-based “circle of community,” provided through Lotsa Helping Hands, to help individuals coordinate responsibilities, get assistance with organizing the activities of daily living and communicate with family, friends and neighbors;

Individual Donations: Refer to the InterAction or the USAID websites for information.

Members of the campus community who might be interested in holding events that support the victims of the earthquake in Japan are encouraged to contact Beth Zawodniak.

Questions about issues related to fundraising to support the victims in Japan should be directed to Diana Davies, vice provost for international initiatives.

Resouces for employees seeking information on relatives and friends in Japan:

Text Messages: Where internet and telephone services are not available, it may be possible to contact people using SMS (cell text message) or other forms of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook

Japanese Quake Person Finder: Google has set up an online database to help locate people in Japan after the earthquake. It collects information about people’s locations and their safety status, is intended to help users find out if their friends and families are safe, the U.S. Internet company said in a Google blog post.

Travel Advisory to Japan: U.S. Department of State has issued a travel advisory against U.S. citizens travelling to Japan for nonessential travel in the aftermath of these events. For information, e-mail the State Department.